Pembrokeshire coast's archaeology secrets uncovered by new scheme

Skeletons sticking out of cliffs and villages emerging from sand dunes sounds like the stuff of horror movies.

Skeletons sticking out of cliffs and villages emerging from sand dunes sounds like the stuff of horror movies.

But they are just a few of the sights seen by archaeologists excavating Wales’ coastline.

Dyfed Archeological Trust has been examining spots around the nation as part of the Cadw-funded Arfordir project. In St Ishmael, Carmarthenshire, a 16th century village was found buried under sand dunes.

“Sand was being deposited on their land and erosion was occurring,” said James Meek, the trust’s field services head.

“Over time, because so much sand was building up it became more and more unliveable and people slowly started to move out. They have not left a lot behind so they have obviously not left in a rush.

“What has happened is that people moved further up, to Llansaint, which is a nearby settlement.”

The buildings may still have been used as fishing huts.

“But in a couple of hundred years the dunes had built up,” James said.

In the 1890s a storm exposed part of the village near Milford Haven. The stone was plundered.

“Local farmers were using it to get stone so it turned into a quarry,” James said.

“Now more and more of these buildings are showing up. We are trying to piece it all together to try and get an idea of how big this settlement was.”

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